My family and I completed the Great Loop in October 2017. After returning to our land home, we all missed the water terribly, as well as the life it afforded us. So, we knew we had big decisions to make. After my husband Ben reinvented his career to focus on marine electronics, we moved back Read More
Part 3: Countdown to the Olympics
We’re only days away from this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, scheduled to begin on Friday, July 23, 2021. You might be wondering just what Olympians LTJG Nikole ‘Nikki’ Barnes and Lara Dallman-Weiss are doing and thinking right about now. The truth is, we were so curious, we asked them! What we found out Read More
Glamping with the Gals on Little Hog Island
Photos by Basha Burwell and Joy McPeters The backseat of Jen’s 1976 Cadillac convertible was piled high with gear and supplies. The three of us — my college roommate Jen, her 12-year-old daughter Estelle and I — climbed into the front seat, because the rest of the car was crammed full of coolers, gear, beach towels, Read More
Part 2: The Making of an Olympian
The days are moving quickly as we approach this year’s Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, scheduled to begin on Friday, July 23, 2021. With just weeks to go, there’s no doubt that LTJG Nikole ‘Nikki’ Barnes and Lara Dallman-Weiss are prepared to sail into history, Olympic medals glistening in the sun. And when the day Read More
Lake Champlain – A Mystery
In 2015, one chapter of our life closed, and a new chapter opened for my wife Claudia and me. We sold our home, changed course and went “all in” by moving aboard our new-to-us 1981, 43-foot Viking aft cabin cruiser. Thus, began a grand adventure as full-time cruisers exploring our country from the perspective of Read More
Wilmington to Southport, NC
A palpable depth and richness embrace visitors to the southern coast of North Carolina. Cruising from the urbane city of Wilmington south through coastal beach communities with their own distinct personalities, you are greeted with a casual welcoming atmosphere. Even if you’ve never been here, it will feel like familiar territory. The region has hosted more Read More
The Ultimate Lockdown: Sailing to Portugal
Kia Koropp and her husband John Daubeny have been cruising the Pacific, Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean for the past decade with their two young children onboard their 50’ Ganley Solution yacht, Atea. Starting in 2011 from their homeport in Auckland, New Zealand, they have sailed Atea 40,000 miles to their current location in the north Atlantic, having just Read More
Cruising Dream – Turn It Into Reality
Truthfully, I wasn’t always confident that my full-time cruising dream would ever become a reality. I was petrified of failure but thirsted for a lifestyle I knew existed outside my orbit. Taken as a whole, the detailed legwork, crucial boating skills and financial commitment necessary for success seemed unsurmountable for a rookie sailor like myself. Read More
Cabrito Anyone?
“Ferocious with life” was writer John Steinbeck’s description of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. The 760-mile long Baja Peninsula is a ribbon of majestic mountains flanked on one side by the vast Pacific Ocean and the other by a turquoise sea, dotted with islands. Cactus and scorpions dominate the arid landscape while the warm waters teem with Read More
Santa Catalina to Marina del Rey, CA
SANTA CATALINA IS an island retreat off the coast of Southern California. During the past 7,000 years, the island has been inhabited by a fabulous cast of characters: Native Americans, smugglers, gold diggers, pirates, Union soldiers, missionaries and movie stars. More than 500 films, commercials and TV shows have been shot on Catalina. Since 1919, the Read More